Experimental study on horizontal performance of multi-dimensional earthquake isolation and mitigation devices for long-span reticulated structures

Abstract

Earthquake excitation is a kind of complicated multi-dimensional ground motion. Therefore, anti-earthquake measuresfor complex and important engineering structures, such as long-span structures and high rise buildings under multi-dimensional earthquake excitations, have become an extremely important research topic. In this paper, a new multi-dimensional earthquake isolation and mitigation device (MEIMD) is proposed for protecting long-span reticulated structures due to strong earthquake motions. It consists of a viscoelastic bearing and several viscoelastic dampers. Property tests on the MEIMD under different excitation frequencies, excitation amplitudes and vertical pressure forces are carried out. Then, a mathematical simulation is carried out for the equivalent stiffness and the equivalent damping of the device, and the numerical results agree reasonably well with the experimental data. Experimental and numerical results show that the MEIMD has a fine energy dissipation capacity, and can be used for anti-earthquake purposes for long-span reticulated structures.